New documents released this week have unearthed a shocking discovery about the relationship between the FBI and Best Buy's Geek Squad repair agents. After filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit last year, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) was granted access to documents which show that the FBI has paid Geek Squad staffers to inform them of any illegal materials they might find on the computer they are asked to repair.

This violation of the fourth amendment goes back at least a decade, as one memo from 2008 describes a meeting in which Best Buy hosted the "Cyber Working Group" of the bureau as well as giving a tour of the Geek Squad facilities in Brooks, Kentucky to the federal agents of the Louisville Division who attended the meeting.

Nearly 200 pages of documents released Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation show that Best Buy’s top officials have "enjoyed a particularly close relationship" with the FBI for at least a decade, if not longer.

The filings were obtained by the advocacy organization as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in an attempt to better understand how the retail chain sometimes uses its "Geek Squad" tech support service to aid law enforcement. In a document from 2008, the FBI's Louisville, Kentucky, division is described as having a "close liaison with the Geek Squad’s management." In some instances, the agency even paid Best Buy employees directly.

The FOIA suit was filed last year in the wake of a federal prosecution of a California doctor, Mark Rettenmaier, who was charged with possession of child pornography in 2014. In court filings from 2015, Rettenmaier claimed that when he took his computer in for repair, Best Buy technicians, at the behest of the government, searched his hard drive without a warrant in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

Earlier this morning, we explained why you should never... ever... under any circumstances... for any reason... buy a new Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ from Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint. Samsung's new flagship smartphones are fantastic, but pricing is an absolute mess. Things didn't come together until the very last moment and as a result, pricing varies by as much as $90 depending on where you buy the phones — and the discrepancy is the same whether you buy them outright or choose a monthly payment plan.

Long story short, Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint all want to rip you off. Each one of them is charging more than Samsung's suggested retail price for both the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+. Whether you pay in full or choose a financing plan, you'll pay inflated prices at any of those three carriers. On the other hand, you can pay up front or finance a factory unlocked phone from Samsung and save between $70 and $90. Samsung is definitely the way to go if you plan to buy a Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+, unless you place your order at Best Buy on one specific day this week.

Everyone knows that there are two times in particular each year that are the best times to buy a new TV. The first and biggest is obviously during the Black Friday shopping blitz, when TVs drop to rock-bottom prices. But there's another time when smart shoppers know they can save big on big-screen TVs, and it just so happens to be right now.

Electronics retailers offer deep discounts on TVs and other home theater gear ahead of the Super Bowl each year, and Best Buy is obviously always among them. In 2018, however, Best Buy is stepping things up with a surprise three-day sale on all sorts of gadgets. In addition to TVs, Best Buy has discounts available on MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, iPad Pros, laptops, video game bundles, smartphones, headphones, and so much more.